115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 1333 

AN ACT 

To provide for rental assistance for homeless or at-risk 

Indian veterans. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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†S 1333 ES

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Tribal HUD–VASH 

3 Act of 2017’’. 

4 SEC. 2. RENTAL ASSISTANCE FOR HOMELESS OR AT-RISK 

5 INDIAN VETERANS. 

6 Section 8(o)(19) of the United States Housing Act 

7 of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(o)(19)) is amended by adding 

8 at the end the following: 

9 ‘‘(D) INDIAN VETERANS HOUSING RENTAL

10 ASSISTANCE PROGRAM.— 

11 ‘‘(i) DEFINITIONS.—In this subpara12 graph: 

13 ‘‘(I) ELIGIBLE INDIAN VET14 ERAN.—The term ‘eligible Indian vet15 eran’ means an Indian veteran who 

16 is— 

17 ‘‘(aa) homeless or at risk of 

18 homelessness; and 

19 ‘‘(bb) living— 

20 ‘‘(AA) on or near a res21 ervation; or 

22 ‘‘(BB) in or near any 

23 other Indian area. 

24 ‘‘(II) ELIGIBLE RECIPIENT.— 

25 The term ‘eligible recipient’ means a 

26 recipient eligible to receive a grant 
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1 under section 101 of the Native 

2 American Housing Assistance and 

3 Self-Determination Act of 1996 (25 

4 U.S.C. 4111). 

5 ‘‘(III) INDIAN; INDIAN AREA.— 

6 The terms ‘Indian’ and ‘Indian area’ 

7 have the meanings given those terms 

8 in section 4 of the Native American 

9 Housing Assistance and Self-Deter10 mination Act of 1996 (25 U.S.C. 

11 4103). 

12 ‘‘(IV) INDIAN VETERAN.—The 

13 term ‘Indian veteran’ means an In14 dian who is a veteran. 

15 ‘‘(V) PROGRAM.—The term ‘Pro16 gram’ means the Tribal HUD–VASH 

17 program carried out under clause (ii). 

18 ‘‘(VI) TRIBAL ORGANIZATION.— 

19 The term ‘tribal organization’ has the 

20 meaning given the term in section 4 

21 of the Indian Self-Determination and 

22 Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 

23 5304). 

24 ‘‘(ii) PROGRAM SPECIFICATIONS.— 

25 The Secretary shall use not less than 5 
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1 percent of the amounts made available for 

2 rental assistance under this paragraph to 

3 carry out a rental assistance and sup4 ported housing program, to be known as 

5 the ‘Tribal HUD–VASH program’, in con6 junction with the Secretary of Veterans Af7 fairs, by awarding grants for the benefit of 

8 eligible Indian veterans. 

9 ‘‘(iii) MODEL.— 

10 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—Except as 

11 provided in subclause (II), the Sec12 retary shall model the Program on the 

13 rental assistance and supported hous14 ing program authorized under sub15 paragraph (A) and applicable appro16 priations Acts, including administra17 tion in conjunction with the Secretary 

18 of Veterans Affairs. 

19 ‘‘(II) EXCEPTIONS.— 

20 ‘‘(aa) SECRETARY OF HOUS21 ING AND URBAN DEVELOP22 MENT.—After consultation with 

23 Indian tribes, eligible recipients, 

24 and any other appropriate tribal 

25 organizations, the Secretary may 
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1 make necessary and appropriate 

2 modifications to facilitate the use 

3 of the Program by eligible recipi4 ents to serve eligible Indian vet5 erans. 

6 ‘‘(bb) SECRETARY OF VET7 ERANS AFFAIRS.—After consulta8 tion with Indian tribes, eligible 

9 recipients, and any other appro10 priate tribal organizations, the 

11 Secretary of Veterans Affairs 

12 may make necessary and appro13 priate modifications to facilitate 

14 the use of the Program by eligi15 ble recipients to serve eligible In16 dian veterans. 

17 ‘‘(iv) ELIGIBLE RECIPIENTS.—The 

18 Secretary shall make amounts for rental 

19 assistance and associated administrative 

20 costs under the Program available in the 

21 form of grants to eligible recipients. 

22 ‘‘(v) FUNDING CRITERIA.—The Sec23 retary shall award grants under the Pro24 gram based on— 

25 ‘‘(I) need; 
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1 ‘‘(II) administrative capacity; and 

2 ‘‘(III) any other funding criteria 

3 established by the Secretary in a no4 tice published in the Federal Register 

5 after consulting with the Secretary of 

6 Veterans Affairs. 

7 ‘‘(vi) ADMINISTRATION.—Grants 

8 awarded under the Program shall be ad9 ministered in accordance with the Native 

10 American Housing Assistance and Self-De11 termination Act of 1996 (25 U.S.C. 4101 

12 et seq.), except that recipients shall— 

13 ‘‘(I) submit to the Secretary, in a 

14 manner prescribed by the Secretary, 

15 reports on the utilization of rental as16 sistance provided under the Program; 

17 and 

18 ‘‘(II) provide to the Secretary in19 formation specified by the Secretary 

20 to assess the effectiveness of the Pro21 gram in serving eligible Indian vet22 erans. 

23 ‘‘(vii) CONSULTATION.— 

24 ‘‘(I) GRANT RECIPIENTS; TRIBAL

25 ORGANIZATIONS.—The Secretary, in 
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1 coordination with the Secretary of 

2 Veterans Affairs, shall consult with el3 igible recipients and any other appro4 priate tribal organization on the de5 sign of the Program to ensure the ef6 fective delivery of rental assistance 

7 and supportive services to eligible In8 dian veterans under the Program. 

9 ‘‘(II) INDIAN HEALTH SERV10 ICE.—The Director of the Indian 

11 Health Service shall provide any as12 sistance requested by the Secretary or 

13 the Secretary of Veterans Affairs in 

14 carrying out the Program. 

15 ‘‘(viii) WAIVER.— 

16 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—Except as 

17 provided in subclause (II), the Sec18 retary may waive or specify alter19 native requirements for any provision 

20 of law (including regulations) that the 

21 Secretary administers in connection 

22 with the use of rental assistance made 

23 available under the Program if the 

24 Secretary finds that the waiver or al25 ternative requirement is necessary for 
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1 the effective delivery and administra2 tion of rental assistance under the 

3 Program to eligible Indian veterans. 

4 ‘‘(II) EXCEPTION.—The Sec5 retary may not waive or specify alter6 native requirements under subclause 

7 (I) for any provision of law (including 

8 regulations) relating to labor stand9 ards or the environment. 

10 ‘‘(ix) RENEWAL GRANTS.—The Sec11 retary may— 

12 ‘‘(I) set aside, from amounts 

13 made available for tenant-based rental 

14 assistance under this subsection and 

15 without regard to the amounts used 

16 for new grants under clause (ii), such 

17 amounts as may be necessary to 

18 award renewal grants to eligible re19 cipients that received a grant under 

20 the Program in a previous year; and 

21 ‘‘(II) specify criteria that an eli22 gible recipient must satisfy to receive 

23 a renewal grant under subclause (I), 

24 including providing data on how the 

25 eligible recipient used the amounts of 
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1 any grant previously received under 

2 the Program. 

3 ‘‘(x) REPORTING.— 

4 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—Not later 

5 than 1 year after the date of enact6 ment of the Tribal HUD–VASH Act 

7 of 2017, and every 5 years thereafter, 

8 the Secretary, in coordination with the 

9 Secretary of Veterans Affairs and the 

10 Director of the Indian Health Service, 

11 shall— 

12 ‘‘(aa) conduct a review of 

13 the implementation of the Pro14 gram, including any factors that 

15 may have limited its success; and 

16 ‘‘(bb) submit a report de17 scribing the results of the review 

18 under item (aa) to— 

19 ‘‘(AA) the Committee 

20 on Indian Affairs, the Com21 mittee on Banking, Housing, 

22 and Urban Affairs, the 

23 Committee on Veterans’ Af24 fairs, and the Committee on 
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1 Appropriations of the Sen2 ate; and 

3 ‘‘(BB) the Sub4 committee on Indian, Insu5 lar and Alaska Native Af6 fairs of the Committee on 

7 Natural Resources, the 

8 Committee on Financial 

9 Services, the Committee on 

10 Veterans’ Affairs, and the 

11 Committee on Appropria12 tions of the House of Rep13 resentatives. 

14 ‘‘(II) ANALYSIS OF HOUSING

15 STOCK LIMITATION.—The Secretary 

16 shall include in the initial report sub17 mitted under subclause (I) a descrip18 tion of— 

19 ‘‘(aa) any regulations gov20 erning the use of formula current 

21 assisted stock (as defined in sec22 tion 1000.314 of title 24, Code of 

23 Federal Regulations (or any suc24 cessor regulation)) within the 

25 Program; 
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1 ‘‘(bb) the number of recipi2 ents of grants under the Pro3 gram that have reported the reg4 ulations described in item (aa) as 

5 a barrier to implementation of 

6 the Program; and 

7 ‘‘(cc) proposed alternative 

8 legislation or regulations devel9 oped by the Secretary in con10 sultation with recipients of 

11 grants under the Program to 

12 allow the use of formula current 

13 assisted stock within the Pro14 gram.’’. 

Passed the Senate May 23, 2018. 

Attest: 

Secretary. 
115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 1333 

AN ACT 

To provide for rental assistance for homeless or atrisk Indian veterans.